PLEASE NOTE: This talk will take place in a DIFFERENT VENUE than usual. The talk will start promptly at 5 PM. The next talk in the CDC Seminar series will be given by: Scott Johnson, UCLA Date: Wednesday, July 4, 2012, 5 PM Location: Department of Cognitive Science, CEU, Frankel Leó út, room 303, 3rd floor Constraints on Visual Statistical Learning in Infancy Abstract: Statistical learning is the process of identifying patterns of probabilistic co-occurrence among stimulus features, essential to our ability to perceive the world as predictable and stable. Research on auditory statistical learning has revealed that infants use statistical properties of linguistic input to discover structure, including sound patterns, words, and the beginnings of grammar, that may facilitate language acquisition. Previous research on visual statistical learning revealed abilities to discriminate probabilities in visual sequences, leading to claims of a domain-general learning device that is available early in life, perhaps at birth. More recent research, however, challenges this view. Visual statistical learning appears to be constrained by limits in infants' attention and memory, raising the possibility that statistical learning, like rule learning, may be best characterized as domain-specific. Implications for theories of cognitive development will be discussed. Cognitive Science Events at CEU: http://cognitivescience.ceu.hu/events Postdoctoral Research Fellow Cognitive Development Center Central European University Hattyú utca 14, 1015 Budapest, Hungary _______________________________________________ Subscribe by sending an empty mail to seminars-subscribe(a)cdc.ceu.hu Unsubscribe by sending an empty mail to seminars-unsubscribe(a)cdc.ceu.hu